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Tropical storm Irene approaches Puerto Rico (L) in this image taken from the Modis instrument on Nasa's Aqua satellite on August 21, 2011. –Reuters Photo

MIAMI: The rapidly intensifying Irene that's already cut a destructive path through the Caribbean is the first hurricane to seriously threaten the US in almost three years, a worry for some emergency management officials who hope people haven't become complacent about the dangers.

Predictions by the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said Irene was likely to become a major Category 3 hurricane Tuesday. By Thursday as it roars toward the US coast over warm open waters, it could become a Category 4, NHC hurricane specialist John Cangialosi said late Monday.

Winds in such a storm can blow from 131 to 155 mph (210-249 kph).

The last hurricane to make landfall in the US was Ike, which pounded Texas in 2008.

For now, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season had maximum sustained winds early Tuesday around 100 mph (160 kph) and was centered about 50 miles (85 kilometers) northeast of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.

The hurricane was moving west-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph) and could eventually land in Florida, Georgia or South Carolina.

Bryan Koon, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said after a meeting Monday with Gov. Rick Scott that the two have frequently discussed raising awareness since the Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and is still predicted to be active.

''We want to make sure Floridians are paying attention,'' Koon said. ''We are at the height of the hurricane season right now. If it's not Hurricane Irene, it could be the follow-up storm that impacts us.''

After several extremely active years, Florida has not been struck by a hurricane since Wilma raked across the state's south in October 2005. That storm was responsible for at least five deaths in the state and came two months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

''For residents in states that may be affected later this week, it's critical that you take this storm seriously,'' said Craig Fugate, administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Julio Gonzalez in Miami was heeding the warnings and headed to a hardware store to pick up what he needed to protect his home.

''I'm gonna board up,'' he said Monday. ''It's best to play it safe.''

Others were stocking up on bottled water and plywood. And Hurricane Irene was trending on Twitter, with many posters sharing updates on the storm's progress while others hoped it wouldn't come their way.

The storm slashed directly across Puerto Rico, tearing up trees and knocking out power to more than a million people. It then headed out to sea, north of the Dominican Republic, where the powerful storm's outer bands were buffeting the north coast with dangerous sea surge and downpours.

President Barack Obama declared an emergency for Puerto Rico, making it eligible for federal help.

Irene was forecast to pass over or near the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas by Tuesday night and be near the central Bahamas early Wednesday.

In the overseas UK territory of the Turks and Caicos, a steady stream of customers bought plywood and nails at hardware stores, while others readied storm shutters and emergency kits at home.

''I can tell you I don't want this storm to come. It looks like it could get bad, so I've definitely got to get my boats out of the water,'' said Dedrick Handfield at the North Caicos hardware store where he works.

Many of the center's computer models had the storm veering northward away from Florida's east coast toward Georgia and the Carolinas, but forecasters said much was still unclear.

''In terms of where it's going to go, there is still a pretty high level of uncertainty,'' said Wallace Hogsett, a National Hurricane Center meteorologist.

''It's a very difficult forecast in terms of when it's going to turn northward.''

One key reason for that, he said, is the difficulty of measuring the effect on Irene of the high terrain of the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican.

Hurricane warnings were up on the northern side of the Dominican Republic, as well as the Turks and Caicos islands just south of the long Bahamas chain.

Forecasters say it depends on which way the storm veers after passing the Bahamas Tuesday or into Wednesday and heads into the very warm Atlantic waters.

And several past hurricanes have turned into Category 4 or 5 monsters but hit land with much less force.

The other big factor is exactly when the storm will encounter a higher-level trough along the US East Coast, which will eventually turn it to the north.

''Timing is everything,'' Hogsett said.

In South Carolina, state and coastal emergency agencies went on alert for possibly the first hurricane to hit there in seven years.

''This is potentially a very serious hurricane,'' longtime Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said. He led Charleston's recovery from the massive destruction of Hurricane Hugo's 135 mph winds and waves back in 1989.